ACME goes Dutch

[Oaky]

Great fun - thanks to psyclist and jibers for getting it all together.

It may have rained, but that didn't detract from the fun of it all.  (It also provided the first extended test of my waterproof jacket which performed admirably).

[psyclist]

For my part, I would like to thank everybody who came for making it such a great trip. When I first started mentioning my idea of nipping across to the Netherlands for a 200km, the feedback was positive but I had no idea we would muster 8 soles to partake in this little adventure.

On seeing the rain cascading down as we left the ferry on the Saturday morning, you could see the experience of everybody just kicking in and getting on with those first few kilometres of the ride. Thankfully the sky was full of different shades of grey, so heavy rain became light, and then intermittent. There were even signs of a great fiery ball in the sky later on that first day.

Day one was less photogenic due to the damp conditions, but come day two we were bathed in glorious sunshine. As we meandered back towards the coast, we diverted to view again a gaggle of windmills, before crossing a number of waterways via ferry and bridge.

Cycling in the Netherlands is brilliant. We stuck exclusively to cycle paths, and enjoyed passing through many interesting villages and towns. Using the overnight ferry out and back made the most of the time, and proved very clean and comfortable. As one person mentioned, the ferry is like a floating Travelodge.

I'm keen to head back for another jaunt next September, perhaps heading more into the interior. September feels like a good time, as an end of season wind-down, and helping those on an RRtY to get a ride in with a difference. 

[Oscar's dad]

I'd be interested in going back too but without the audax element, perhaps a 2 or 3 day jaunt doing 60 to 80 miles a day thus leaving some time for regular refreshment and sightseeing stops. The overnight ferry definitely works though.

[psyclist]

I'd be interested in going back too but without the audax element, perhaps a 2 or 3 day jaunt doing 60 to 80 miles a day thus leaving some time for regular refreshment and sightseeing stops. The overnight ferry definitely works though.

I concur with your thoughts there. On day 2 we used the 130km route and it was noticeably more relaxed cycling with longer stops to boot. Depending on numbers on a future trip, on one day we could think about splitting the group for half the day to let one group build up the kilometers for a 200km, and keep the remainder more relaxed.

[Oscar's dad]

That would work. Saturday was a ride of two halves for Oaky and I. H1 at audax pace and H2 was definitely tour mode. 

[Oscar's dad]

Talking of me and Oaky's post lunch breakaway...

We had no pre-organised Gouda / Hook route. Fortunately I have a QuadLock iPhone case and the corresponding mount on Fred's stem. Even better I have the waterproof poncho for my phone as well and I can power my phone from Fred's dynohub.  [1]

So I simply got Google maps to give me a cycling route from Gouda to The Hook and it worked perfectly! Google knew all the cycle paths and I even had voice instructions too.  Initially my phone wasn't charging but after I unplugged and plugged in again it all worked and I arrived at The Hook with a fully charged battery.  The data usage came out of my UK data allowance so didn't pay any extra thanks to the new EU roam like home arrangement which will no doubt get bolloxed by Brexit.

[1] In fact what I do is plug the hub into a battery pack and run my phone and Garmin from the two output ports on the battery pack.  The battery pack was nearly fully charged as well even after powering/charging two devices for most of the day.

[jiberjaber]

An excellent weekend enjoying the lowlands.  

I felt a fair bit of pressure on the Audax day around timings to get round a 200km route and have an enjoyable time... the frequent town sections whist pretty we very slow sections and not audax friendly... something to watch out for and avoid next time I think.  Also an observation from what worked well on other tours was when we stop, gather everyone together and agree what time to leave.. we failed to communicate as a group a couple of times which could have upset the apple cart if we weren't all sort of used to each other already!

The second day was less pressured but still had a timing pressure due to the boat, so it still felt a bit rushed (even when you remove the fast riding out of the equation).

My thoughts are it would be better to ride out on the day off the boat and Audax the following day, then ride back to the boat a day after that. This would also accommodate anyone who wanted to come along and not ride a 200km as they could do their own thing on the middle day.

The problem with a 3 day is it might require a Thursday evening crossing, riding 200km on a Sunday over there might not work out for logistics, however a Thursday crossing might be cheaper?

From my experience now, we were on the limit of enjoyable time with the 130km route back I think some of that can be mitigated by eating on the boat, but also understand that might not suit everyone, perhaps an earlier food stop before the last 30km or so would work better (i.e. Fat Mermaid on the return worked well on one ride back to the boat for me.) - I am so glad we didnt do the longer versions of the D2 route, it would have ruined the weekend because of even more time pressure to get back..

Personally, I am gravitating to no more than 100km a day, may be 120km at a push to transition to where we might want to start a 200km.  This allows for a nice touring/audax pace with some good stops to refuel, though probably longer abroad, but why wouldn't you want to spend longer over there! 

 

[psyclist]

The second day was less pressured but still had a timing pressure due to the boat, so it still felt a bit rushed (even when you remove the fast riding out of the equation).

Perhaps because you were doing such an excellent job corralling us, I didn't feel any pressure and always felt confident we had plenty of time in hand.

My thoughts are it would be better to ride out on the day off the boat and Audax the following day, then ride back to the boat a day after that. This would also accommodate anyone who wanted to come along and not ride a 200km as they could do their own thing on the middle day.

A good suggestion. 

From my experience now, we were on the limit of enjoyable time with the 130km route back I think some of that can be mitigated by eating on the boat, but also understand that might not suit everyone, perhaps an earlier food stop before the last 30km or so would work better (i.e. Fat Mermaid on the return worked well on one ride back to the boat for me.) - I am so glad we didnt do the longer versions of the D2 route, it would have ruined the weekend because of even more time pressure to get back..

Conversely, the stop 12km from the ferry was enjoyable in that we could enjoy decent food. If we were running late, this stop could have been by-passed without too much issue. A stop further out is not so optional as it would more likely be a food stop we couldn't do without. However, if we had a more relaxed schedule I don't think it would be a problem either way.

[bhoot]

Overall it was a great weekend, many thanks to the organisers. Extending it to 3 days was good, our mileage dropped each day - 128 on Audax day, then an 80 miler, breaking away from the ferry gang afer lunch and ending up in Dordrecht in time to enjoy a beer on the sunny and scenic terrace of the youth hostel. The final day back to the ferry was a mere 59 miles - but we did go for a walk around the Biesbosch area in the morning.

Definitely an event to repeat, as mentioned elsewhere I think with some tweaking of the audax route to pass through less big towns/built up areas it would be less stessful timewise. Heading south from Hoek would probably work well as it's more rural down there. Incidentally on the way back to the ferry we found a 10km cycle path down an "island" between two waterways (Spijkenisse to Rozenburg-ish) which was great - no nav, no junctions, decent surface (except sheep shit) and of course no traffic! A few sections like that can help a lot on overall speed.

[psyclist]

As a placeholder for an idea for the next ACME venture across the north sea, trains. Inspired by https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=105227.0;topicseen

One option could be cycling east until such a time as a train is needed to return us to the ferry, thus avoiding the prevailing winds!

Just an idea. Will start looking at all options in the spring. 

[psyclist]

ACME goes Dutch 2018

Ferries are half price if booked before 31st January. If booking a flexible fare the return price including a single cabin and breakfast in both directions is £140.30. Dates can be changed later if needed, and a £3 per sailing fee would be applied if the booking is cancelled. So makes sense to book early. Use code 'SALE' on Stena Line website.

Outline plan is as follows:

- outbound ferry from Harwich at 23:00 on Friday 14th Sept
- breakfast on ferry, to fuel start of ride
- 200km on the Saturday
- less distance on the Sunday
- train assist options can be worked into the plan, either for Saturday laggards or to provide a return option on the Sunday if the ride keeps heading east rather than doing a loop
- return ferry from Hook at 22:00 on Sunday 16th Sept

There is no advantage in doing a group booking as far as I can see, so I suggest all those who are interested book independently. I'm going to wait until the end of this week before booking, to allow time for any discussion on the plans. So please do post here if you are interested, and if you have any thoughts on the plan.

[jiberjaber]

That sounds ace to me (at the moment!) 

[Oscar's dad]

Yes, the plan has much appeal.

[Snotty Gilbert]

I'm in. 

Just tried the website, and 50% is a loose term!  I like the way breakfast costs £9.90 and is £11.00 when selected....

Still all comes back to the figure you quoted though

[Oscar's dad]

Just a thought, what sort of weather has been ordered?

[huggy]

Just a thought, what sort of weather has been ordered?

Epic! (again, probably )

[Oscar's dad]

Hmmm, that's what bothers me! 

[psyclist]

Historically, the average temperature in the Netherlands on 15th September has been 18 degrees during the day, and 13 degrees at night.

Rainfall amounts in September average 75mm with most falling on an average of 10 days out of 30. Much of the precipitation is light in nature.

So there is a 67% chance that it'll be dry, and if it does rain it is not likely to be heavy.

[Oscar's dad]

Historically, the average temperature in the Netherlands on 15th September has been 18 degrees during the day, and 13 degrees at night.

Rainfall amounts in September average 75mm with most falling on an average of 10 days out of 30. Much of the precipitation is light in nature.

So there is a 67% chance that it'll be dry, and if it does rain it is not likely to be heavy.

Thank you for that Professor!

[huggy]

Rainfall amounts in September average 75mm with most falling on an average of 10 days out of 30. Much of the precipitation is light in nature.

All of which fell on the 16th September 2017 
The 17th September 2017 was very nice!

[jiberjaber]

Ferry booked! 
(Tempted to extend it but will see closer to the date)

[Snotty Gilbert]

Ferry booked! 
(Tempted to extend it but will see closer to the date)

Ditto
&

Ditto

[psyclist]

Ferry booked too. The Straggler is aboard the trip too 

[psyclist]

I just made an £8 profit unexpectedly.

Following discussions about keeping the return dates flexible in case anybody decides to extend their trip by a few days, I thought that I would remove myself from the booking with the Straggler, and create a new booking as a separate traveller. So I did the following:

• removed myself and 2 x breakfast from the first booking, total refund being £80.20
• when I created a new booking, I discovered that a cabin booking was compulsory (ie I couldn't use the 2-person cabin booked separately), so decided to revert to the original plan, and come back on the Sunday night
• I added myself to the original booking, plus 2 breakfasts, total due being £72.30

I double checked everything, and haven't omitted anything. So I guess the prices must have reduced since making the first booking.

[jiberjaber]

Just sticking this here as a home for it... this is on about the enclaves at Baarle which might be a destination or part of a route...
https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2018/06/05/from-railway-to-cycleway/

Also....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhFCLnwrh7Q
(though it doesn't show the 'ups' to get to the 'downs'    + there's even a bloke in an orange helmet!)